Joseph Rafidi Finishes Ninth at NCAA Fencing Championship

Junior Joseph Rafidi

Mar 22, 2013

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In his first appearance the NCAA Fencing National Championship, MIT junior Joseph Rafidi (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished ninth in the epee competition on Friday. The lone Division III qualifier in a field of 24 participants, he recorded the Engineers' best epee performance since Keith Lichten '95 was the runner-up his senior year. In addition, Rafidi earned All-America honorable mention accolades, becoming the seventh fencer in program history to accomplish this feat and first since Spencer Sugimoto '08, who was 11th in foil at the 2006 championship.

Following two days of action, MIT ranks 17 out of 21 squads as the women's portion, featuring senior Robin Shin (Brookline, Mass.) and freshman Mounica Paturu (Plainsboro, N.J.), will begin on Saturday, March 23.